By Mark

Give us a little introduction to yourself and your hobby history with this hobby.

It all started in 1990 with HeroQuest and, unsurprisingly, quickly escalated into Warhammer, Man o’ War and other Games Workshop games. But by 1994, I found myself interested in far more ‘grown-up’ things, and everything was sold in the classifieds of the local paper. Fast-forward to 2018, and my daughters and I found Burrows & Badgers. Well, one thing led to another and seven years and several hundred figures later, I'm loving being back in the hobby. My real passion is big games, and through the various online communities, I've been able to find like-minded people to make the dream a reality.

So what exactly are we looking at here?

These two armies are my 19th-century imagi-nations forces. Each army is a selection representing what in real life are soldiers from different places and periods, but I feel that in my imaginary world, they all fit together very nicely.

I wanted two decent-sized forces to allow me the flexibility to play games of different sizes, right the way up to multiplayer battles on massive tables.

There's a good mixture of troop types, giving lots of opportunity to put together thematic forces as part of a narrative campaign.

What drew you to this particular project?

Inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’ Ingary books and the Miyazaki adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, I set out to put together two armies to fight out campaigns in the land of Ingary and its neighbouring countries. Whilst the army is ‘realistic’, in Ingary magic is real - if rare - and the possibilities for games with a twist are endless.

Broadly speaking, most of the magical or fantastical elements sit with characters ‘off-table’ influencing things like weather, and sending magical missiles from afar, so the miniatures are all quite realistic and normal, but I am going to start bringing in some more steampunk elements as the campaign progresses and technology for war machines moves rapidly forwards as the war rages on.

Which miniatures range(s) did you use to create this force/collection, and why?

All of the models in this project are multi-part plastic kits by Perry Miniatures. They're tremendous sculpts and fantastic value. By buying at shows and online in the sales, the average price has been well under 50 pence per figure. A good thing, as there's hundreds of them!

I do have a few vehicles from other manufacturers, including some yet unpainted steampunk contraptions from Ironclad Miniatures, soon to be distributed by Pendraken.

Did you paint all the minis for gaming? And if so, are there particular rules sets you will be using to play with them?

I've been using these figures with various games systems, mainly a homebrew adaptation of Daniel Mersey and Michael Leck’s Rebels & Patriots rules from Osprey for skirmishes, and more recently, Jervis Johnson and the Perry Brothers Valour & Fortitude rules, which are available free on the Perry Miniatures website.

These rules are simple enough to then tack on magic elements without overly complicating things.

As I am mostly playing solo, I like the random elements of both systems, meaning I can play each side to the best of my ability, whilst still maintaining lots of unpredictability and battlefield friction.

Do you have some favourite units or models in this force?

I think my favourite unit is probably either the Ingarian Zoaves or the Rashputi infantry. I love the bright colour of both, and they were great fun to paint.

As I was batch painting these units in blocks of 24 or 36, mostly, it was nice to have lots of bright colours to keep the interest and make the experience more enjoyable.

How was the experience of working on this project? How long did it take you from opening the boxes to being ready for the battlefield?

This project began life at the start of March 2023, and it took until the end of September 2023 to paint all the models. This was me painting for about three or four hours per week, half an hour here, an hour there. When autumn arrived, they sat there for a little while as I concentrated on some other projects, and I only came to revisit them in January 2024 to do all the basing. In total, it was a big job, but I'm really pleased with the overall look.

What challenges came up while working to complete this project?

The biggest challenge of this project was basing the models. Because I had elected to multi-base them, and they would be tightly packed, the Vallejo ground texture was tricky to get between the legs of all the models.

Looking back, I don't think there was a particularly easier way to do it, but it sure was fiddly!

Could you share your tips for staying focused and motivated on these large painting projects?

Batch painting is a great way for me to keep motivated, as it means I focus on painting the unit and not each miniature. For bigger armies, the overall spectacle is the goal I keep in mind throughout.

For anyone who hasn't batch-painted and thinks that it might be a grind, I say give it a try. I actually really quite enjoy the repetition as it allows me to fall into a really peaceful flow-state.

Did you employ any particular painting techniques to help speed up the process of painting all the models?

In terms of techniques, it's a very simple approach; grey spray primer, Army Painter acrylics for blocking in all of the base-colours, some quick highlights here and there, and then a light tone wash, followed by a couple of coats of matt varnish. It's a very simple approach, but the vibrant colour scheme really helps sell the look I think.

Yes, if you zoom in on the photos or hold the models six inches from your eye, they look basic, but as units, I think they look good, and on a big table with lots of nice terrain, they look great!

Did you use any podcasts, films or music to accompany your painting sessions?

I don't have a dedicated hobby space, so I paint on the dining room table, allowing me to chat with my wife and kids, who are usually in the next room pursuing their own hobbies and interests. It's nice to be present and part of the family while still painting.

Was there any particular modelling or painting techniques you tried for the first time on this project?

Up until this project, I had always based miniatures individually, but for these armies, I wanted to use multi-basing to allow for quicker movement and deployment. All regular infantry are six figures to a 60mm x 50mm base, so keeping everything organised ensured a good mix of poses, officers, musicians and standard bearers across the various bases.

For this number of figures, I needed to jot down where I was up to with basing, so I kept a notebook on hand to help out. A benefit of this approach was that it was nice to tick stuff off on the long list as it was completed. Always satisfying to do!

Any other tips for those reading at home, thinking of tackling a large project like this?

If, like me, you were wowed by seeing big tables with lovely terrain and lots of painted figures when you first got into wargaming, then the chance to have two decent-sized forces like this is a real treat, especially for such a niche pet project!

However, with a fairly modest budget for the figures, and less than a year in total to paint from box to battlefield, it's been well worth it. If you've always marvelled at big games, but told yourself that it's beyond reach, I'd highly recommend just grasping the nettle and going for it. You never know, you might actually have great fun in the process. I know I did!

Box to Battlefield: My 19th Century Imagi-Nations Forces

By Mark